Ex- Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Retrospective on the Powerful Government Service

The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.

The Period Following the Attacks

In charge of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."

However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.

Investigation Approaches

Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."

Commercial Ties

Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.

It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty